Spider-Man: No Way Home Concept Art Finally Gives Ned A Hobgoblin Connection

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a massive place, with plenty of properties gracing the small and silver screens. But a few franchises stand out as fan favorites, including Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy. That series’ threequel is one of the biggest Marvel hits in years, and contained a wild multiversal story and huge ensemble cast. And some Spider-Man: No Way Home concept art finally gave Ned a connection to Hobgoblin. Cue the FOMO!

Actor Jacob Batalon played Ned Leeds in all three of Jon WattsSpider-Man movies. Some hardcore comic fans who have been watching the Marvel movies in order have been patiently awaiting Peter Parker’s bestie to become the Hobgoblin. After all, Ned famously became that villain on the page. Some epic Spider-Man: No Way Home concept art on Twitter shows a scrapped idea for that connection, check it out below:

I mean, how cool is that? No Way Home included plenty of wild comic book moments, thanks to its big cast of villains and three different versions of Spider-Man. And it’s awesome to see what Ned would have looked like on the Goblin Glider, and even using pumpkin bombs. Fingers crossed we see this play out sometime in the character’s future. 

This piece of concept art was seemingly the creation from a visual artist about options for Spider-Man: No Way Home’s ending battle. During that time the three Peter Parkers united to neutralize a group of villains from their respective timelines, to epic results. During that time MJ nearly dies, while Ned continues using a sling ring. Jacob Batalon’s signature character also uses Doctor Strange’s cape briefly, which was an exciting moment. But it might have been even cooler to see him using The Goblin Glider in a nod to his history in the comics.

Prior to the third Spider-Man movie’s release, there were rumors about Ned possibly becoming Hobgoblin throughout the course of its runtime. These turned out not to be true, and both he and MJ survived the multiversal romp of a blockbuster. Although they did suffer an emotionally devastating fate. Peter asked Doctor Strange to erase anyone’s memory of him, and we saw that it indeed worked on Ned and MJ.

Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters back in December of 2021, so it’s already been a few years since Tom Holland and company appeared in the MCU. Fans are eager for any information about a fourth movie, but there hasn’t been any real updates or timeline given. Hopefully this changes sooner rather than later.

The next upcoming MCU movie hitting theaters is The Marvels on November 10th. In the meantime, check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.